PSD closes school Friday over heat concerns

District Superintendent Sandra Smyser said it's 'unlikely' heat-related closures will happen again and is organizing a group to look at long-term fixes.

Aug. 29, 2013

Parents walk their kids to school during the first day of school at Dunn Elementary School. PSD says its cooling systems can't keep up with the heat and school is closed Friday. / V. Richard Haro/The Coloradoan

In what is believed to be the first time in its history, Poudre School District is closing all schools Friday due to the heat.

PSD joins a long list of schools in Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota and other Midwest states shuttering buildings this week because of sweltering conditions and a lack of air conditioning in some classrooms, the Associated Press reported.

Standing outside the district administration building in Thursday’s 91-degree heat, PSD Superintendent Sandra Smyser said the closure of 50 schools is an “unconventional decision” she knows won’t sit well with everyone. The newly seated leader said “it’s very unlikely” this would happen again next year.

Smyser is organizing an employee group to look into long-term fixes. No option is off the table, she said, when a reporter at Thursday’s news conference asked if early start times were among considerations.

Nine of 50 PSD schools are fully air conditioned, while 32 are partially air conditioned. A dozen have tempered air, ushered in through new heating and ventilation systems paid with 2010 bond dollars, but 25 have no cooling at all in areas other than computer labs, music rooms and some offices.

But why not allow the schools with air conditioning to open Friday? Coordinating individual school closures is incredibly tricky, Smyser said, especially when factoring in coordination of buses and schedule challenges families with children at different schools would face.

Many have also asked: Why doesn’t PSD have air conditioning in all its schools?

The purchase was considered during discussions of how 2010 bond dollars could be spent. The estimated $45 million to $50 million price tag for installation, however, was deemed too steep. Air conditioning units weren’t included in bond-funded school renovations, but several buildings received new heating and ventilation systems either this or the previous summer.

In addition to moving air more efficiently throughout schools, those systems were designed to reduce temperatures by about 10 degrees, Smyser said Thursday. But in some district classrooms and libraries, in which teachers and principals told the Coloradoan temperatures reach the high 90s, 10 degrees doesn’t make a huge difference.

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Still, many, including Shepardson Elementary Principal Jennifer Chadwick-Conway, count themselves lucky to be in buildings with the new HVAC systems.

“Without that ventilation system, our classrooms would border on 100 degrees,” said Chadwick-Conway, remembering conditions from three years ago. It’s especially helpful in a school where the windows don’t open, she added.

Additionally, nighttime cooling procedures haven’t been as effective because of higher nighttime temperatures. Systems can’t keep up with rising temperatures, according to a district email sent to parents Thursday. Federal guidelines require schools to constantly circulate outside air into the buildings during the school day, so closing the buildings to trap cool air (similar to what homeowners may do) isn’t an option.

Some principals heard from parents who said their children had heat-related medical complaints, Smyser said, adding the numbers didn’t suggest a “crisis situation.”

Two hours after posting word of the closure, comments on the Coloradoan’s Facebook page climbed to about 150. Seventy-nine people had “liked” the decision, with many more lauding the closure in the comment feed.

“I just picked up my daughter from class and everyone was sweating — kids and teachers,” one person wrote. “They looked miserable, and I am OK with the ‘heat day.’”

Others questioned the decision, saying they suffered through — and survived — 100-degree school days when they were kids.

B.A.S.E. Camp will be closed, but all athletics and after-school activities will take place. These activities aren’t mandatory, Smyser said, so parents can decide whether it’s safe for their children to take part.

All PSD employees will be off except for selected staff members, who will be notified by their supervisors.

Thompson School District schools will be open Friday, spokesman Michael Hausmann said in an email to the Coloradoan. And Weld Re-4 schools in Windsor will remain open because its schools are air-conditioned, a spokeswoman said.

Liberty Common School will remain open, according to the school’s Facebook page.